What handicrafts are there that represent the characteristics of Tianjin?

Tianjin Folk Crafts-Tianjin-Folk Custom

-

Source: Tianjin Cultural Information Network

embroidery

Tianjin embroidery technology has a long history. As early as the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was regarded as a sign to test women's dexterity and clumsiness. Especially unmarried girls, embroidery is indispensable every day. The engaged woman also needs to embroider some small ornaments such as handkerchiefs and powder bags for her future mother-in-law, sister-in-law and younger generation as wedding gifts. These trinkets are embroidered with auspicious patterns such as goldfish and peony. In addition, the clothes worn by women and children in the old days and daily necessities such as door curtains, pillowcases and tablecloths were decorated with embroidery. Until the 1970s, there were still many young women (called "social youth") engaged in embroidery processing industry in Tianjin. In addition, many girls also use their spare time to embroider their daily necessities as decoration. Today, with the development of modern science, hand embroidery technology is gradually being replaced by modern technologies such as machine embroidery and computer embroidery, and on this basis, a kind of flower mending technology has been created.

Embroidery is a tool for embroidery, made of bamboo or wood. Generally rectangular and round. Rectangular, about 3 feet long and 1 foot wide, supported by 4 legs; Round, about 1.5 feet in diameter, supported by three legs. Both kinds of curtains are about 2 feet high.

When embroidering, you can put the quilt on the bed and people sit cross-legged on the bed to embroider; Quilts can also be placed on the ground and people can sit on the bench to embroider. To embroider an embroidery, you should first print the pattern on a monochrome cloth, then tie the embroidered part tightly and flatten it with a sewing needle, and then sit on the bench and thread the needle. The right hand is above the apron, the left hand is under the apron, and the needle shuttles back and forth. Embroidery techniques are usually represented by petals of Ping Xiu technique, flower hearts of hollowing technique and tendons of lace technique. Embroidered patterns are mostly four-season flowers such as plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and lotus, as well as auspicious patterns such as gourd, peony, goldfish and butterfly.

There is also a small circular apron with a diameter of about 1 foot to 3 inches, which is divided into different models. You can choose according to the size of embroidery. The use of this apron requires one hand to hold the apron and the other hand to shuttle up and down the apron with a needle. However, some people can embroider without a button. They rely on their own embroidery experience and skills. They hold a cloth in one hand and a needle in the other, and they also embroider very smoothly without pleating.

Externally processed embroidery generally uses monochrome thread, and the color contrast between embroidery thread and cloth is not great, which makes embroidery look beautiful and generous. Embroidery in daily life generally uses special thread for embroidery, commonly known as "multicolored embroidery thread". This line, based on one color, can present different shades of transition colors on it. For example, the red embroidery thread starts from deep red and gradually transitions to light red-pink-yellow-red-white, showing a gorgeous shape. When embroidering, we can choose to use different transition colors according to the different color changes when the flowers are in bud or in full bloom.

In addition to Ping Xiu, lace, hollowing out and other techniques, most of the embroidery techniques used in daily life adopt the skill of arranging flowers. That is, on the larger petals or branches, in the middle of the upper and lower needles, they are fixed from left to right with oblique needles. The purpose of this process is to prevent embroidery from wrinkling and increase the three-dimensional sense of embroidery. Stamens are generally hollowed out by wire drawing, and some are replaced by small circles.

Embroidery is a folk craft created on the basis of embroidery. This technology prevailed in the 1980s. Women like to fill flowers in bedspreads, pillowcases, wall covering, sewing machine covers, TV sets, washing machine covers, and even clothes worn by children to add interest to these daily necessities.

The material of the flower mending process is the small rags left over from home clothes, and its bright colors are used to cut out various flowers, petals, flowers and leaves, or various lively and lovely animals. Then use the same thread as the patched flower to sew the periphery of the flower stitch by stitch.

On the cloth. If the patched flower is large, lock some needles in the middle, or sketch the outline, or sew the flower heart, so that the patched flower and the patched cloth can be consistent and tidy.

The patch pays attention to the layout, with the middle as the main part and the four corners as the supplement. In the middle is a big flower, a big Ye Er, and the four corners are slightly smaller flowers or Ye Er, and the edges are locked with the same color line; Others just put flowers in the middle, or use the same patterns that contrast with each other.

Cut flowers is to put flowers or characters on the fabric with a special needle, and then cut the cut pattern at the connecting line with scissors, so that the cut pattern presents a raised tufting effect.

In the 1970s, there was a "swish fever" among primary school students. They covered the fashionable green military schoolbags (commonly known as "military backpacks") one by one, and marked the words "serving the people" (Mao Zedong style) with bright red lines. This process is mostly completed by female students.

The scissors are very special. Similar to a sewing machine needle, the eye of the needle used for threading and the needle tip are on the same head. Before cutting flowers, write the flowers to be cut into words and print them on the position of the cut flowers with blue lagoon paper. Then, fasten it with a button, flatten it, and thread it with a needle and thread. Then you can hold the other end of the needle in your hand, aim the tip of the needle at the flowers or characters you want to cut, cut them out and pull them out one by one. Down, up, as dense as possible. After cutting, cut the connecting wire with scissors.

Chinese

Before the sixties and seventies of the 20th century, folk artists were often seen setting up stalls in the streets and alleys, and sugar blowers were selling on the spot. In order to attract business, artists often put a wooden frame in the sales car. There are several small holes in the wooden frame, and all kinds of samples blown by sugar people are inserted with reed sticks as business covers.

Yellow wheat and honey are raw materials for sugar people. They are made into syrup, and then some white flour is added. They are placed in a small iron pot on a small stove and heated with a small fire to keep the syrup soft all the time. When someone comes to buy it, the artist will dip his hand in some starch according to the customer's requirements, then take out a pinch of syrup from the pot, put one end on his lips, and pinch the rest with the help of blowing, which makes him angry. Children can enjoy and eat with reed sticks in their hands.

The folk artists who blow sugar are all stunts. As long as the customer says what he wants, the artist can blow the sugar man in ten seconds. The traditional modeling of sugar man is "cock eats rice", "mouse steals oil" and "gourd".

Today, people can still vaguely see these artists, mostly at the entrance of kindergartens or during temple fairs and holidays.

There are often folk artists in the streets who draw sugar people for a living.

As long as the customer wants to buy any pattern, the artist can draw it by hand according to the customer's requirements. Dragon and phoenix in myths and legends; Birds and beasts, people, fruits and flowers in real life. , both.

The raw material of sugar man is brown sugar. When drawing sugar people, add water to brown sugar and cook it in a pot with low fire. After the sugar and water are completely dissolved and the water evaporates to make the sugar appear viscous liquid, it can be put on a small fire and heated for use. When customers come to buy, they first put cooking oil on the stone tablet, then scoop some sugar from the pot with a copper spoon, and draw a figure of sugar on the stone tablet in a few tens of seconds. Then dip some sugar in the pot with a reed stick, stick it on the sugar man, and reinforce it with some hot sugar. At this point, the sugar man has been dried. Only a small flat shovel is used to remove a part of the sugar man, and the whole Tang Hua will be separated from the slate and become an instant handicraft.

Because artists make a living all the year round, they gain experience in painting and boiling sugar. Especially how much sugar to add, how much water to add, how long to cook, etc. It all depends on years of experience. It shows the superb artistic skills of folk artists.

paper cutting

Paper cutting is a popular folk craft. Paper-cut artists also learn from others in their long-term creative practice, forming a unique Tianjin paper-cut style. However, the history of Tianjin paper-cutting is not long. Before Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, there were people who specialized in this field. Most paper-cuts sold in the market are made by Wang He and Liu, paper-cut artists in Baoding, Hebei. At that time, every New Year Festival or temple fair, they would carry a small bag of blue cloth, bring some red paper and a pair of scissors to set up a stall, cut out various patterns on the spot with scissors for sale, or cut them at will at the request of customers. Later, the two men opened "Jin" and "Yi He Zhai" one after another. Since then, there have been shops specializing in paper-cutting. The self-contained "Tianhou Palace Paper-cut" has also been sold in Tianhou Palace for many years, and its content is mostly practical.

With the increasing demand of paper-cutting society, there are more and more workshops and shops opened by paper-cutting artists. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than a dozen paper-cutting and engraving workshops outside the West Gate. They are all roughly carved staple foods, which are sold to towns near Tianjin and towns along Jinpu. Only Wang Jinfu's works in Jin Baozhai are exquisite, and he often makes some new tricks and visits famous rich families. Wang Jinfu is good at cutting flowers and insects. On the basis of paper-cutting, Yi, his favorite disciple, paid attention to absorbing various forms of shadow play and painting art, thus giving paper-cutting a new style and distinctive artistic characteristics, such as smooth lines, clear and unique texture, fine and beautiful depiction, vivid figures of flowers and birds and so on.

Tianjin paper-cut is not only different from the exquisite carving of Jiangnan paper-cut, but also different from the simplicity, boldness and rigidity of northern paper-cut. Instead, it pays more attention to realism, the proportion of characters is symmetrical, and the transition between lines and surfaces is softer. It draws on and absorbs the pattern design methods in New Year pictures, porcelain, woodcarving and other arts to achieve full and rich artistic effects. At present, except for a few artists who still keep the traditional hand-cut paper, most paper-cut artists in Tianjin have developed from folk paper-cut to artistic creation. Moreover, in order to meet the needs of people's appreciation and creation, most of them do not need to cut, but engage in paper-cutting creation through engraving. Even cutting is the pursuit of artistic beauty. For example, the paper-cutting artist Tong can cut out a beautiful and charming silhouette of a dance posture on a square inch of paper without drawing a draft or sketching, relying on her own memory of observing various folk dances on weekdays.

Tianjin's carved paper is also famous. Paper engraving is developed on the basis of paper cutting. In the old days, the pattern draft of carved paper was made by smoking, that is, the draft was put on white paper, then smoked on a kerosene lamp, and then the draft was uncovered, leaving traces of smoked white paper, which was black and white. When carving paper, the smoked artwork and the carved paper are screwed together with paper to fix the periphery, and then the artwork is placed on the blackened part with various carving knives-in a moment, the paper carving work is completed. At present, there are many ways to draw a draft, such as spraying color or reaching out. The most advanced is to use a copier to get the manuscript.

Today's paper-cutting artists, in addition to traditional patterns, mostly make some artistic creations based on classical novels, dramas, myths and other contents. Then the creation of news based on social current affairs. His creative forms are single sheets and complete sets.

At present, there are many very active paper-cutting experts in Jixian, Baodi, Hebei and Nankai. Tianjin has also established a national organization of China Paper-cut Society, with more than 300 members at home and abroad, who often organize exhibitions and appraisal activities of paper-cut works. Tianjin Folk Museum has also restored the traditional art of "Tianhou Palace Paper-cutting", continuously enriched its content and held special exhibitions, which promoted the artistic creation and development of Tianjin paper-cutting. Paper-cutting can be divided into "window flowers", "hanging money", "happy flowers", "rice fragrance", "sacrificial flowers" and "patterns" of embroidery according to their uses.

In the Chinese New Year custom in Tianjin, there are sayings of "window grilling, hanging money, Spring Festival couplets, door gods, blessed characters, etc.". They are posted on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month every year. Among them, "window grilles" and "hanging money" are the contents of folk paper-cutting. The common contents of window grilles and hanging money are to embody the meaning of seeking happiness, getting wealth and prolonging life, such as "fat pig arch", "golden pony", "cornucopia", "the god of wealth picks up treasures", "lucky tree", "auspicious flowers and plants" and "happiness from now on". There are also some auspicious characters such as "happy family" and "happy from now on", which are mainly characters with ten thousand characters and round money. Others use auspicious words such as longevity and eight immortals instead of auspicious words and so on. Nowadays, folks still keep the custom of hanging money on stick grilles, but the pattern of hanging money is expressed in Chinese characters. Such as "more than every year", "more than wealth", "looking up to see happiness", "all the best", "four seasons are like spring", "happiness from now on", "wealth is abundant", "family happiness" and "congratulations on making a fortune" and so on. Others carved the word "Fu" on the pattern of Pisces, meaning "Ying"; Carving a word "you" on the pattern with the word "fu" as the principle, and writing 1 instead of four words, all have the meaning of good luck. Among the paper-cut window grilles, the most distinctive one is the "fat pig arch", which is embodied in the form of black, red and yellow wax paper veneer. These window grilles and hanging money in Tianjin are not only diverse in form and rich in content, but also profound in meaning, which fully embodies people's yearning for a better life. In addition, it is also cut and carved with red paper, adding festive colors to the China New Year.

People who like flowers have the custom of putting up "happy flowers" when they get married. In the past, the day before marriage, dowry was very important. At this time, people have to cut out many "wedding flowers" (also called "dowry flowers") and stick them on every dowry. Besides. Wedding flowers should be affixed to the doors, windows and furniture of the bridal chamber. The patterns of happy flowers are mainly happy characters, and some are accompanied by patterns such as mandarin ducks, butterflies, dragons and phoenixes, and magpies climbing plums. Up to now, many people still follow this custom, and on this basis, on the wall of the new house (that is, the bridal chamber), there are big and red "double happiness of dragons and phoenixes" paper-cut flowers, both round and oval. It not only adds an artistic appreciation to the bridal chamber, but also takes the auspicious meaning of "dragon and phoenix are auspicious".

In the past, the "flower shape" of Tianjin embroidery came from paper-cut patterns. These flowers are widely used in household goods. Such as door curtains, curtains, wall cloths (commonly known as "fences"), pillowcases, etc. Other patterns used in clothing, such as children's flower pockets, tiger's head shoes, "three-inch golden lotus" embroidered shoes worn by old ladies, headscarves, handkerchiefs and insoles used by girls, are all embodied by the blue embroidery of paper-cut patterns. Its paper-cut patterns include traditional auspicious flowers and plants such as dragons, phoenixes, flowers and birds, peach blossoms, peony, roses, lotus flowers, chrysanthemums and plum blossoms, as well as auspicious patterns such as butterflies, magpies, gourds and bats.

People who offer flowers and rice flowers often cover the offerings on the table with auspicious paper-cut patterns, commonly known as "offering flowers". There are also birthday noodles covered with paper-cut patterns such as blessings, commonly known as "rice flowers".